Tag Archives: Climate

The Put A Price On It Fellowship is accepting applications for the Spring Fellowship until December 15th. Please consider forwarding this description or sending an email of the attached flyer to any interested students or networks. Students can apply here.

A little about the effort: Put A Price On It is a national campaign led by Our Climate and the Years of Living Dangerously, which mobilizes young people to advocate for strong and fair carbon pricing policies at the state and national level. By putting a price on carbon, we will hold polluters accountable and transition our economy to a clean energy future. Students will train and organize other students, rallying public support for carbon pricing policy, and engage directly with elected officials. Applications are currently being accepted for our Spring 2018 fellowship positions.

As a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Oakton is proud to celebrate our efforts through Campus Sustainability Month! All events are free and open to the public, no rsvp required. The events below are offered in part by the Sustainability Center, Green Committee, Environmental Studies Concentration, Peace and Social Justice Studies, and Honors Program. We hope you will join us!

October 7: Solar Energy Tour at Skokie Campus 10am-3pm

October 17: IDNR Fish Survey at Des Plaines Campus 2:30pm-4:30pm

October 17: My Trip to the Amazon – A Great Adventure, Life Science instructor David Arieti at Des Plaines Campus, Lee Center Room 210 and streaming live in C240, Skokie Campus from 5:30pm to 7:00pm

October 23: Merchants of Doubt Film Screening at Skokie Campus, 2:00pm to 4:00pm, C133

October 25: Factory Farming Awareness Coalition—Hungry for Knowledge? Presentation at Des Plaines Campus, 12:30pm to 1:45pm in Room 2139 2139 (We hope to live stream this presentation—check the Keepin’ It Green blog or Green Committee Facebook page for details!)

October 26: An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Film Screening at Des Plaines Campus with Live Stream Q&A from former Vice President Al Gore, 5:45pm to 8:30pm in Room 1606

October 30: Merchants of Doubt Merchants of Doubt Film Screening at Des Plaines Campus, 2:00pm to 4:00pm, Room 1608

November 2: An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Film Screening at Skokie Campus, 11:00am to 1:00pm in Room C250

We need to build a greener, healthier world with clean air, clean water and clean energy. We approach this challenge one step at a time, putting the environment first at every step along the way.

Imagine using your sharp writing skills and strategic digital content to promote solar power. Or putting your talent for social media to use to keep local waters clean and ban fracking. Imagine running online campaigns to build the organizational power—the funds, the membership, the activist base and more— that it takes to keep all of this critical work going for the long haul.

We are thrilled to announce Oakton’s first electric vehicle charging station has been installed on the Des Plaines campus. Located in Lot D near our LEED Gold certified Margaret Burke Lee Science and Health Careers Center, this dual Chargepoint system will allow students, employees, and community members a convenient way to refuel their electric vehicles when they visit campus. Electric vehicle purchases are growing globally and in the U.S. and Oakton is excited to support the push towards greener transportation. Within the first hour of use, we already had drivers waiting to utilize the system!

There are many benefits to driving electric vehicles. Here are a few from the U.S. Department of Energy:

Energy Security–With 24% of petroleum coming from outside of the country, use of electric vehicles can reduce our dependence on imported petroleum and increase energy security.

Fuel Economy–The efficient nature of electric vehicle motors mean drivers can get more miles per kWh than the equivalent mpg with gas.

Infrastructure Availability–Because electric vehicles can be charged in a number of places like home or work, there is flexibility to fill up when and where it is convenient. There are currently over 35,000 Chargepoint stations alone!

Costs–Although initial costs for buying electric vehicles are still relatively high, tax incentives at the federal level and in various states can help close the gap. The saving on gas and repairs though are huge!

Emissions–Because they are not using gasoline and burning fossil fuels, the vehicles themselves emit no (in the case of electric vehicles) or very low (in the case of plug-in hybrid vehicles) harmful emissions. The best way to reduce association emissions though is when the electricity is coming from a renewable source like solar or wind.

And of course, driving electric means an overall reduction in greenhouse gases for transportation, even after considering the entire life cycle of the vehicle. (Read a great discussion of that assessment from the Union of Concerned Scientists here.) The charging station is one of the many ways Oakton is thinking about our environmental impact and taking action on climate. We hope you will visit soon!

As noted in our Sustainability Guidelines, Oakton is committed to climate action, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting sustainable transportation. Beginning late summer 2017, students, employees, and community members who visit our Des Plaines campus will have more options for green parking. Keep your eyes out for new signage in some of these areas!

Electric Vehicle Charging
A Chargepoint Level 2 dual charging station is currently being installed on the Des Plaines campus at the south side of Parking Lot D (close to the Lee Center). Drivers of electric vehicles may park in one of the two designated spots while they are charging. Out of respect for other EV drivers, we ask that you move your vehicle to a different space when your charge is complete.

Low-Emitting and Fuel Efficient Vehicle Parking
A row of reserved spots for low-emitting and fuel efficient vehicle parking is located on the East side of the Lee Center on Des Plaines campus, in Parking Lot D. A second set of three spots will be available to employees only in Parking Lot C after July 1st (parking is currently reserved for the ECE Center).

Not sure if your vehicle is considered fuel efficient? Electric or hybrid vehicles and motorcycles are a quick yes! For other, gas-powered vehicles, find your car’s Green Rating using the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) guide. If your vehicle scores a 40 or higher, you are encouraged to park in these locations!

We invite you to a climate data rescue event at Oakton Community College, sponsored by The Green Committee at Oakton. We believe in supporting the fundamental role of science in sound government policy. Please help us preserve vulnerable federal climate, environmental, and transportation data. We need programmers, data scientists, and science enthusiasts! Bring your laptop and come ready to learn.

This event is part of a series of climate data rescue events happening in the Chicago area in recent months. Others were hosted by Chi Hack Night, University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. It is also part of ongoing international collaborations—with coordinated efforts from the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, Internet Archive, and higher education institutions (University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, and UCLA).

Being sustainable is about more than protecting the natural environment–it also involves protecting and caring for people and the communities we live in. Join us on Earth Day, April 22 for our annual Creating Justice symposium. Please feel free to share this pdf widely. The event is open to the community, though registration is requested.